Nationally, nearly one in five heart attack patients and nearly one in four heart failure patients is readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, according to the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
Here at UT Southwestern Medical Center, we are proud to have been selected by the ACC to be one of 35 hospital centers in the country to participate in a model program to help reduce hospital readmissions by heart patients.
The program is called the American College of Cardiology Patient Navigator Program and we just recently kicked off the program at our William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.
Readmissions by heart patients can be related to issues like stresses during the hospital stay, lack of understanding of discharge instructions, and inability to carry out discharge instructions. The Navigator team will work with patients to reduce stresses during their stay and to help them better understand their condition, care plan and medications, and also how to use community resources.
Clements physicians and staff will work together with the ACC over several years to:
- First – Evaluate current practices and patient outcomes
- Second – Design and implement a program that will help patients transition from hospital to home
- And finally – Evaluate the effectiveness of those changes
The results will serve as a template for reducing readmissions of heart patients in hospitals all over the country.
We are honored that UT Southwestern was selected to participate in this important program by the American College of Cardiology. I believe our inclusion is a testament to the commitment by the cardiovascular specialists at UT Southwestern to provide outstanding patient care.
